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*March 28, 2013
#2*
* *
*Syngenta and Bayer
CropScience Propose a
Comprehensive Action Plan
to Help Unlock EU Stalemate
on Bee Health
Syngenta News Release*
*Syngenta and Bayer CropScience today proposed an action plan to help
unlock the EU stalemate on bee health. This follows the failure of the
European Commission to reach agreement with Member States on an appropriate
response to EFSA’s report on the theoretical risk to bee health from
neonicotinoid pesticides.
John Atkin, Syngenta’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “This comprehensive
plan will bring valuable insights into the area of bee health, whereas a
ban on neonicotinoids would simply close the door to understanding the
problem. Banning these products would not save a single hive and it is time
that everyone focused on addressing the real causes of declining bee
populations. The plan is based on our confidence in the safety of our
products and on our historical commitment to improving the environment for
bees.”
Dr. Rüdiger Scheitza, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer
CropScience and Head of Strategy & Business Management, said: ”Even though
all the evidence points to various parasites and diseases being the true
cause of poor bee health, we are keen to do everything in our power to give
consumers confidence in our products. The significant lack of agreement
between the European Commission and the Member States needs a bold plan so
that farmers in Europe can continue to produce the high quality affordable
food, in a way that promotes the health of bees and other pollinators. We
believe that such a plan as this can be delivered.”
The key features of the action plan are:
1. Significantly scale up the creation of pollen rich, flowering field
margins across the EU to provide essential habitat and nutrition for bees.
2. Support for the establishment of a comprehensive field monitoring
program for bee health including the detection of neonicotinoid crop
protection products – particularly in maize, oilseed rape, sunflower and
cotton.
3. Mandatory implementation of strict measures to mitigate the exposure
risk to bees; these are currently already recommended by the manufacturers
and effectively applied by most farmers as good agricultural practice.
4. Investment in and implementation, at the earliest opportunity, of new
technologies which further reduce dust emissions from the planting of seed
treated with neonicotinoid crop protection products.
5. Further investment in the research and development of new solutions for
the main factors impacting bee health, which include parasites and viruses,
and establishment of area-wide long-term pilot studies which demonstrate
their effectiveness.
In further detail, the key features of the action plan are:
Significantly scale up the provision of pollen rich flowering field margins
across the EU to be sown alongside bee attractive crops treated with
neonicotinoids to provide habitat and nutrition.*
- *This would build on Syngenta’s 10-year Operation Pollinator program
which has demonstrated that these margins dramatically increase pollinator
populations, including honeybees.*
- *This would address one of the main factors identified by the European
Commission in the decline in bee health.*
*Support for the establishment of a comprehensive field monitoring program
for bee health including the detection of crop protection chemicals*
- *A comprehensive program, following the guidelines for surveillance
projects by the EU Reference Laboratory for honey bee health, shall be
established.*
- *The current monitoring work of the EU reference laboratories on bee
health, supported by national bee institutes, should be reinforced and
extended.*
- *Within this new scope the detection of chemicals from crop
protection, particularly neonicotinoids, and veterinary products should be
included.*
*Mandatory implementation of strict measures to mitigate the exposure risk
to bees*
- *High quality treatment of seed to take place only in certified
production sites which participate in a Quality Assurance Scheme.*
- *Strict rules governing the use of treated seed, such as the mandatory
use of deflectors in planting machinery, application only by professional
and certified users, and improved information exchange between farmers and
beekeepers.*
- *Bayer Crop Science recently developed “SweepAir”, a new air-cleaning
technology for maize sowing equipment offering a significant improvement in
comparison to standard technology; first field tests with the prototype
indicate a dust reduction well above 95%.*
*Invest in and roll out new technologies which further reduce the dust
emissions from the planting of seed treated with neonicotinoid crop
protection chemicals*
- *Bayer CropScience and Syngenta are both working on new solutions to
further improve the coating of seeds treated with crop protection chemicals
and the way they are planted to ensure that dust emissions are minimized.
*
- *Some of these solutions are ready to be deployed and we commit to
continuing our investment in the research and development of these risk
mitigation measures.*
*Further invest in the research and development of new solutions for the
main factors impacting bee health*
- *The European Commission identifies disease and viruses such as Varroa
destructor, American foulbrood, European foulbrood, Nosema spp., and honey
bee viruses as the main cause of the decline in bee health.*
- *Bayer CropScience and Syngenta have both invested in the research and
development of new solutions to these parasites, diseases and viruses and
commit to stepping up our activities in this area.*
- *Bayer CropScience and Syngenta commit to supporting area-wide
long-term pilot studies which demonstrate their effectiveness.*
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